Chalachitra Academy’s stand on denial of censor exemption to films at IFFK slammed

Leading filmmakers and activists have slammed what they termed “political duplicity” of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), censorship by the Central government and “capitulation by the Kerala government” in the row over the denial of censor exemption to films at the just-concluded IFFK.

In a statement on Sunday, several leading filmmakers and activists including documentary filmmakers Anand Patwardhan and Rakesh Sharma expressed dismay at the decision not to screen the six films for which exemption continued to be denied by the Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry.

While the Ministry’s ‘’ban’’ came as no surprise as “intolerance and censorship has been the hallmark of Modi rule,” the eventual decision of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy not to show the six films was shocking, they said.

“What shocked and dismayed us is that the Kerala government backtracked from its defiance by agreeing to this ban on 6 films. Resul Pookutty, the Oscar-winning artistic director of the Kerala festival made a shocking statement on camera. He did not even state that the Centre had arm-twisted the Kerala festival into censorship. He instead justified the deed by resorting to the usual “anti-national” rhetoric that the BJP is famous for. He claimed that showing these films would jeopardise foreign policy and national security,” the statement read.

Initially, the I&B Ministry had denied clearance to 19 films, including Battleship Potemkin and a number of Palestinian films. The Kerala government, defying the ban, directed the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, to screen all the films. In the meantime, the Ministry cleared all the films, except six.

Academy chairperson Mr. Pookutty had stated on Thursday that the Academy decided not to show these films in view of the Ministry’s notice that stringent provisions of the Cinematograph Act would be invoked against the authorities.